The Old and the New
by Wellington the Grunt
Summary: When players return to Halo:CE in the Anniversary release, what will they find that has been abandoned for ten years? Rated T for language


**The story is being reposted because the last version needed a slight revision-which I will be careful to deal with in future stories before posting them- that I thought were needed. Halo's community is an interesting group of people, and I hope this will show what it can achieve. I will write another Halo fanfiction though it will be some time before it is published due to its length. Please review because unfortunately I am not perfect with storytelling. **

**Thank you ever so much Velgamidragon for evolving this story from a mind blogging draft into something respectful. **

Halo CE Anniversary

Launch Day: November 15, 2011

The Cartographer. Burrowed deep under the island's mountain; only small components of the complex poked above the surface. A labyrinth of spacious rooms extending on for kilometers, the station still retained the sophistication and power of its founders. Automated systems – lights, maintenance, and mechanisms – inexplicably continue to function since their original creation. Though its preservation of Forerunner technology was astounding, the Cartographer lacked life. For 100,000 years, the site lay unused; only silence residing in its depths and everything motionless like a corpse. However, new echoes traveled through the empty halls and chambers. The old was being uncovered by the new.

Boom!

Inside one of the many chambers, a concentrated explosion blasted apart a doorway. The closed door flew away from its frame and collided into the armored coils in the center of the room. Splitting in half, it crashed to the floor with a deafening thud. Through the newly opened hole, two identically armored figures strode in, AR rifles at the ready. The lead Spartan relaxed and swept the scenery eagerly, all pretense of caution gone; he turned to his partner.

"Jesus Thomas, the first Halo game, a classic." the teenager sighed "It's better than I imagined, with optional settings. We got the old, boring and boxy version," he switches his camera to the updated graphics, "then the new and improved awesome one. You can tell they worked to make the Immerse fit right in with the gameplay too. Well worth the sixty dollars I spent on it."

The Immersion System, a relatively recent feature Bungie released in Halo Reach, allowed the users' five senses to be hooked into the game as they played. While the body sat down near the console in a mediation-like trance, the person felt they were living in the game; though their appearance was limited to the characters the creators made for them. However the two did not mind being dressed as Spartan soldiers instead of their normal selves.

"Well maybe for you, but I can't believe you goaded me into buying this remake too." His friend huffed.

"Hey, if you aren't thankful for this masterpiece, I'm sure you can give it to someone else who will be. Better yet, find a girl gamer – has to be hot – and send her my way."

Thomas laughed, willing to humor his friend. "Sure Jacob, I'll forget making a move for your sake."

The two fell silent to further take notice of their surroundings. A bright, flawless metal composed the majority of the room's structure and bright lights floated in place from no observable source. The space was three stories in height with a columned platform branching out on the other room above the players. Rising a few feet above them were wide cones clustered in the middle. Green-lit doorways dotting their level and on the platform above beckoned to other areas in the expansive complex.

Satisfied with the game's aesthetics, Thomas asked, "So, where should we go first?"

"You know what; I think I'm going to hop onto Total War for a while," replied Jacob.

Confused and caught off guard, Thomas rounded on his friend. "What? Why?! You were the one insisting we play Anniversary now!"

"I know, but I kind of lost the vibe for it. I promise I'll join up with you tomorrow."

Jacob hastefully, leaving Thomas staring at the doorway, his shoulders sagged in defeat.

_Great_ Thomas thought, already imaging painful ways to get back his "friend". He paced away from the door, muttering; "Now what I'm going to do?"

"How about you stay right where you are?"

Jumping in place, Thomas pivoted to the source of the new voice. Standing to the side of the pillars was what appeared to be another player, who aimed a missile launcher at him. Thomas scanned the figure over multiple times to make sure this wasn't a NPC. He wasn't.

"Start talking, because the last time I checked, I was the only non-covenant left in the game!" the mysterious gamer barked. His voice sounded gruff from disuse.

Thomas backed away, "Hold on man, no need to blow anyone up. I'm just another player."

"Bullshit, you're just an AI."

"Oh, so I'm guessing AI Spartans were running around on Halo 1? Guess I'm an Easter egg," Thomas replied, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.

The other gamer tightened his grip on the launcher. "I have no qualms killing you guys, especially the smartass ones."

_Better lose the temper_, Thomas tried to stay peacefully still while his body trembled uncontrollably in fear, "Okay man, my name is Thomas, and I just bought the game today. If I'm really an AI, how come I know Bungie references the bible with the Covenant?"

The gamer lowered his weapon, "Bungie would never mention religion that bluntly. Jesus." He walked over to the pillars, and settled down to sit against the smooth metal structure. "How did you get here though? I thought I was the only trapped here."

Thomas lowers himself to his level, crouching in front of him. "Trapped? I simply put the Anniversary disc in. What are you talking about?"

The gamer looked up, his head tilted in confusion. "What are you talking about? This game isn't called… What year is it?"

"2011. Have you been living under a rock?"

The player sharply glared at him, "No, I've been stuck in this game."

Taken back, Thomas replied, "What do you mean stuck in the game? For how long?"

"I never bothered to keep track of time, especially since the environment is permanently on daytime. I do know I got trapped here when Bungie stopped moderating Halo CE."

Thomas stood up and starts pacing the space in front of the player, questions filling his mind. T_his guy's been stuck in CE for 10 years?! Most people couldn't stick to playing only one game for a week; never mind a decade. Wait, how did he get stuck in the first place?!_ Thomas repeated the question out loud to the player.

"I'm guessing you're using some form of Immersion system based on the way you're treating this. Well, before CE was released, I was one of the testers looking for glitches and issues. Back then they had a prototype… you've guessed it, an immersion helmet. After the game launched, I won it in a testers' lottery and could keep the thing as long as I was discreet about the product until they released them to the public. It was incredible to play with, but there was a problem they didn't find.

As you know, the Immersion system creates a connection between the game and your brain so you can feel like you're actually in it. However, with my prototype, if something prematurely turns off the game before you deactivated the system; your mind is stuck in there until the console is turned on again. It was quite a coincidence that a power outage not only turned off the power while I was playing, but it corrupted the game data just before Bungie stopped moderating the game. Now I'm trapped in here, unable to leave."

The player paused, his attention seemed to wander momentarily, but then he reverted back to Thomas, "All of that I pretty much figured out. What's baffling me is after all this time I suddenly find you. How did you get into the game?"

"Well, Halo 1 got remade, but Bungie doesn't own the franchise anymore," Thomas answered. "A part of their company called 343 took over and they started with creating Halo 1 Anniversary. I bought the game and I guess it randomly connected to here. Now I'm here, talking to you. What is your name by the way?"

"Just call me Slayer, it's my gamertag for Xbox."

"My name's Thomas."

The player slowly picked himself off the floor, showing a newfound interest in Thomas. "If this Anniversary game created a connection to the old game, do you think it works both ways?"

"I suppose-"

"I could actually go back… Wait, why should I care?" he said to himself, slumping now at the realization, "There's no life for me outside of this. It's been too long." Slayer turned back to Thomas in a tense stance, his rocket launcher again pointing at him. "Stay away from me!"

The player sprinted out of the room, through the blasted doorway. Thomas, not desiring to be blown apart by the guy's launcher, waited for the footfalls to diminish, and then sprinted in pursuit. Dashing through the facility, he noticed bloodied Covenant corpses marking the route Slayer ran; all of them having been crushed by the heavy weapon. The aliens must have arrived recently; he and Jacob didn't encounter any of them when they came in. Slowly moving up one level at a time, Thomas followed the trail until it ended at a rising ramp leading to a doorway at the top. The door opened, revealing an open balcony located on the side of the mountain, similar to the rest of the complex with bright lights flashing on the walls and barriers, even in midday light. The balcony gave a view of the lush green forest hugging the mountainside and the glittering ocean nearby. The player was there, leaning against the edge's barrier, his launcher lay discarded a few feet behind him.

"Just go. I almost forgot about… everything, until you showed up. I have no life to go back to. Hell, am I even still alive? Being stuck in a console game for a decade can't be good for your health right?"

Thomas joined him, leaning against the metal barrier for support as he thought of a solution. He didn't know the guy at all, but who deserves to be kept in a video game for the rest of their life?

"Do you really want to be stuck in Halo 1 until you die?"

Slayer faced him, "Oh yeah, I love being here. Especially since all the human AI are dead and there's very few enemies left to kill. Living the dream, mate," he said sarcastically.

"Well," Thomas replied, "What if you could play some of the other Halo games? Just to get you socializing again before you try to come back at least."

Slayer closed his eyes and bowed his head down on the barrier. "Something new would certainly be better than this pile of shit. So, what you do have in mind?"

"Unfortunately most of my games are lost somewhere in the house, but I still got Reach at hand."

"What's Reach?"

Thomas smiled. "You'll see."

And so their adventures through the second latest Halo game began. Deciding to not spare his unfortunate friend anything from the game, Thomas spent hours guiding Slayer through Reach's modes. Starting in Forge they took turns doing one of Thomas's favorite tricks in Forge.

"Okay Slayer, I need you stand still where you are right now. Trust me this is going to be good."

The older player was positioned on a platform above a coliseum wall, both hovering dozens of feet over Hemorrhage valley. Thomas floated a good distance away in Oracle form where he wouldn't get hit but could still keep his telekinetic grip on the forge piece. Making sure the wall was positioned so Slayer's side faced towards the island, the player in Oracle form shouted out to his companion, "Just tell me when you're ready and I'll start."

"Ready when you are." Slayer responded in a not so eager voice.

Thomas's Monitor form nodded, and then proceeded to swing the large structure down, spinning it in place as it quickly gained speed. Hoping Slayer would respond in time, Thomas silently continued revolving the object until the right moment arrived.

"Now Slayer!"

His friend leapt off the platform only to swiftly be catapulted by the wall. He flew high over the canyon's cliffs; his path peaking above the ford and dipping down straight towards the Island. This was Slayer's immediate reaction to being launched, "HOLY SHIT!"

The echo of his voice faded out as his character disappeared behind the cliff wall. Thomas could only whistle at the effect, though he did hope that his safety landing zone would work. Impatient to find out, his monitor form followed Slayer's pathway to the Island. Zooming to where he landed, Thomas took the scene before him, and then broke out into laughter.

Before starting, he had placed several passable shields to "catch" Slayer. They would ease his descent until he landed on dozens of health kits piled at the bottom. The player did indeed fall right on the site, but because his descent went at a greater speed than planned, he zoomed through the shields and impacted hard on the health kits. Thomas's Oracle floated towards the now scattered pile with the Spartan groaning in the center. The Monitor still vibrated with amusement as he threw kits off his friend; Slayer rolled off and pushed himself up. Thomas changed his form from Oracle to human.

"How was it?"

"If we do anything else like that again, I'm going to pulverize you with a gravity hammer." Slayer responded firmly.

"Can we play another one if I do it too?"

It took only a second for Slayer to think about it, "Sure."

The duo continued to screw around in forge, playing the legendary and infamous Speed Halo and the mythical map ******* (classified) where they were teleported miles above Forge World's limit; the two even dressed each other as grunts using forge objects.

Through the multiplayer Slayer and Thomas crusaded to wipe out the douchebaggery and idiocy of whiners, squeakers and raging assholes. In firefight, the partners sniped dozens of waddling grunts as they hopelessly marched to be headhunted. The campaign was the most enjoyable. They laughed at Kat's horrible driving while she went off the cliff with them, jumping into the Falcon's spinning blades in New Alexandria, and scampering across the desert outside the map in Tip of the Spear.

Finally, almost at the end, Thomas and Slayer stopped to catch their breath in the shipyards of Pillar of Autumn after slaying all the enemies on the landing platform. The two of them stood together, Thomas with his sniper rifle in hand and Slayer holding a shotgun and an energy sword hilt strapped to his thigh. They gazed at the scenery before them, a common sight in most of the games. Covenant bodies scattered around, a few humans, and in the distance, human forces being grinded down by Scarabs.

"Thomas, thanks for doing this," Slayer paused, "getting me out of CE and into Reach I mean. Everything… it looks so much better now. The landscapes are gorgeous, the enemies are more fun to fight, and don't get me started on this beauty." He pulls out the energy sword admiringly, still not bored with the design and patterns of the blade. "When did these first become available?"

"Halo 2," Thomas replied, grinning at his companion's excitement.

"Damn, just one game away. Oh well, more thing crossed off the bucket list."

"Didn't you write that thing in Halo 1?" Thomas inquired out of curiosity.

"Sure did."

"Besides getting the sword, it must have been a pretty boring list."

"The majority of it was," Slayer conceded, "But this was right after getting the grunts to speak in English. That was pretty funny, especially since I only shouted curses and insults at them." He paused, hesitant, then said, "Thomas, you remind me a lot of my girlfriend." Slayer folded his arms, his body relaxing, "God she was beautiful. Most people would have just left me to die in that one game. You not only saved me, you showed me ideas and tricks in Reach's engine Bungie didn't even think to try. She did that kind of thing with…" he stopped, his girlfriend's interest shrouded in a mental fog.

"I must be getting better now because I blocked her out of my head for years now. Maybe the mere memory is helping, but it's certainly messing with me."

"Maybe you can meet up with her again when you get out." Thomas offered.

"No Thomas, even if it was only a year ago and not ten, she would have moved on and I don't blame her. The person I was before being trapped in Halo CE would have done the same thing."

The pair awkwardly stood there in silence, both of them unsure how to move on from that uncomfortable moment. Thankfully an increasing deafening noise easily interrupted their thoughts as a Pelican materialized from the massive_ Autumn_. The green transport gracefully approached the cleared landing pad. Slayer particularly followed its path earnestly. Quickly, he turns to face Thomas.

"Didn't you say we can fly Pelicans in this game?"

Thomas slapped himself in self-disgust. "Shit, I forgot about that. After this we'll go back to…"

He stopped talking after noticing Slayer had already left, practically running and jumping with joy, shouting, "Been waiting a long time for this!"

Thomas urgently followed his friend. "Wait Slayer! Get away from that thing!"

Slayer paused in front of the dropship's back hatch and turns around to face him. "Why?" He asked, confused.

"Because, it's going to…"

Thomas was cut off when Elite zealots deactivated their camo to his sides and charged, forcing him to back away into cover.

The hatch opened, its passengers standing at the edge; four marine personal from the_ Autumn _and a greying naval officer. The officer – Slayer thought he looked familiar for some reason – waved him inside. "Hop in Spartan! Covenant cruisers are on approach and I rather not die on the ground!"

Slayer stood there, utterly confused by the situation, so impatiently, two of the marines jumped out of the Pelican and hustled the Spartan inside. Right then, Slayer remembered the Captain's name and his face blanched in horror as he realized what was happening.

"Get off me, you assholes! I'm not going back! Let me out!"

As soon as they were clear, the hatch closed and the aircraft leapt up into the air and hurried back to the _Autumn_. Dispatching the last Elite, Thomas ran to the landing pad in vain and watched the Pelican return to its ship. Somehow, he could hear Slayer shouting from inside the dropship, cursing from a decade old anger.

As soon as they landed inside the hanger, the marines rushed him out of the Pelican and into a cryo tube. Secured, Slayer pounded against the glass, his shouting now muffled. The technician responsible for that tube turned it on, and the Spartan's movement and noises died down as he went unconscious.

The Pillar of Autumn rocketed out of its dockyard; its engines going throttling to maximum power. The mammoth warship glided over the scrapyards to jettison the launchers and soon it disappeared from sight. Watching this spectacle hopelessly, Thomas only just noticed his friend Jacob joining him in seeing the ship exit the atmosphere. A few seconds after it was gone, Jacob finally spoke, "Alright, I conquered Europe. Why don't we play ODST?"

Thomas shrugged, "Sure."

Pillar of Autumn

Time: Unknown

Location: Unknown

From his bridge, Captain Keyes stood overseeing his ship's defenses; the Covenant fleet had tailed them to this seemingly random location in the galaxy. Alarms raged through the room as bridge crew furiously typed orders to their respective commands, steadfast in the face of annihilation. The captain himself amused that a single human ship received this much attention from an entire battle group while he examined every tactical approach. Suddenly loud footfalls echoed through the room, the harbinger of Humanity's greatest warrior . The noise stopped and Keyes turned towards the Spartan with a smile. "Good to see you, Spartan."

"Go to hell." Slayer replied.

The End

Or is it?

"Are you kidding me?" Slayer interjected

Fine

The Really End

"Happy now?"

"Not even close." Slayer responded.


End file.
